Seollal
Korean Festivals and Traditional Life
Course 1 · Chapter 3 · Seollal
Chapter 2 showed Seollal as a lunar holiday with three days off and a name, Gujeong, that stands against Sinjeong, the Gregorian New Year. This chapter looks at what the sources say about the holiday itself: where its name and records come from, how it was banned and restored, what people do, and how it is changing. It also fills a gap that Chapter 2 flagged, about how Seollal regained its place.
The Name
The Seollal article says seol (설) in Middle Korean "means 'year of age' since it is also the date when Koreans grow a year older, though in South Korea this has changed as of 2023". It adds that the modern word for age, sal, comes from the same origin, and that nal (날) means "day". The article gives no more detail on the 2023 change, so I note only that it exists.
It also notes that "Seollal" can mean two things: Eumnyeok Seollal (lunar new year, also called Gujeong) or Yangnyeok Seollal (the Gregorian 1 January, also called Sinjeong), and that the lunisolar calendar has Chinese roots, as Chapter 1 described. The date, it says, "generally occurs in January or February on the second new moon after the winter solstice", with exceptions when a leap month falls earlier. That agrees with the January 22 to February 19 range in Chapter 2.
Early Records
| Source or period | What the article says |
|---|---|
| Chinese records (Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei) | "The earliest attestations of the festivals and customs surrounding Seollal." It records worshipping events with singing and dancing in Buyeo in the 12th month of the calendar of that time. |
| Seventh-century Chinese works (Book of Sui, Old Book of Tang) | "The earliest records of Seollal celebrations", describing national rituals and festivals in Silla, including worship of sun and moon deities from the native folk religion that were later discontinued. |
| Samguk Yusa (13th century) | "The oldest surviving Korean records of Seollal." It mentions events in 488 AD under Bicheo of Silla, when the day was nicknamed Daldo. |
| Goryeosa | By the 13th century, the Korean new year "was one of the nine major national festivals of Goryeo". |
Ban and Restoration
This is the history Chapter 2 said the holiday article could not give. The Seollal article supplies it, with dates.
| When | What the article says |
|---|---|
| 1907 | During the last part of the Korean Empire, celebrating Seollal was banned. The article says the last emperor, Sunjong, enacted the ban "under intense pressure by the Japanese". |
| From 1910 | After annexation, "the Japanese reiterated the prohibition". The official new year was set to follow the Japanese one on 1 January of the Gregorian calendar, called sinjeong (new new year), and the old one became gujeong (old new year). |
| 1945 to 1950 | After liberation and before the Korean War, a provisional government designated 1 to 3 January as a public new year holiday. |
| 1980s | There was "widespread opinion" in South Korea that Seollal should be a national holiday again, for reasons the article gives as respecting cultural traditions and removing remnants of Japanese colonial rule and of the dictatorship period under Syngman Rhee and Park Chung Hee. |
| 1985 to 1988 | The government declared Seollal "a folk day". |
| 1989 | The Roh Tae-woo administration "accepted public opinion" and designated the original new year as both the official Korean New Year and a national holiday. |
What People Do
Travel and family
The article calls the festival "a typical family holiday". The three days, the day of, the day before and the day after, "is used by many to return to their hometowns to visit their parents and other relatives", where they perform an ancestral ritual called charye. It says that "in 2016, 36 million South Koreans reportedly would be traveling to visit their families" (the article's wording, with "reportedly" doing real work). Family members "often first visit the elders", and visiting parents-in-law is "considered respectful".
Ancestral rite
The article describes the morning rite: traditional foods are placed on a table as an offering to the ancestors, "a rite begins with deep bows from all family members", and people pray for the family's well-being. It says that on Seollal a family performs the rite "by serving tteokguk to their ancestors during a joint meal" (from the Tteokguk article). The article on jesa covers ancestral rites in general and says that jesa "are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death", so charye on a holiday is a related but separate occasion. Chapter 6 returns to ancestral rites.
The New Year bow
The article describes sebae (세배) as "a ritual of filial piety". Dressed in traditional clothing, people bow deeply to elders and say "새해 복 많이 받으세요" ("Please receive a lot of good fortune for the New Year"). Elders "typically reward this gesture" with new year's money (sebaetdon), usually crisp paper money in silk bags, and with words of wisdom. "Historically, parents gave out rice cakes (ddeok) and fruit." The article says one of the best-known practices today is receiving money after a formal bow, "a tradition likely adopted from Confucian customs" (the article's hedge). It notes that many people now prefer modern clothing to hanbok.
Food
| Dish | What the articles say |
|---|---|
| Tteokguk (떡국) | Sliced rice-cake soup, "the main dish eaten on New Year's Day in South Korea", usually in a beef broth with egg garnish. The long rope of rice cake is said to signify "an expansion of good fortune", the slices are "thought to resemble" old coins (yeopjeon), and the white colour represents "purity and cleanliness". Eating it "signifies adding another year to your life". |
| Jeon (전) | Savoury pancakes made with fillings such as beef, oysters, kimchi or green onion, "typically included in the Korean New Year's feast". |
| Japchae (잡채) | A noodle dish "often served on holidays like Seollal". The article says it originally had no noodles or meat and was invented by a servant of King Gwanghaegun, a claim I could not check. |
Games
The Seollal article lists yutnori (a board game played with specially designed sticks, "appropriate for all ages and genders"), kite flying and jegichagi (a kicking game) traditionally for men and boys, neolttwigi (seesaw jumping) and gongginori (a stone game) traditionally for women and girls, and top spinning for children. It adds that "a few adults play Go-Stop instead of traditional hwatu" (a card game).
The Yutnori article says the game's exact origin "remains uncertain" but that it roots in the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE to 668 CE), that Goryeo-era documents show yut boards, and that the historian Chae Ho-shin suggested a descent from Gojoseon in 2333 BC. The article reports interpretations of its meaning (yin and yang, East Asian astronomy), and I treat them as interpretations. The 2333 BC date is a claim about legendary time, like the Dangun date in Chapter 2, and it needs a source before it is accepted.
Folk Belief
- The zodiac. The article says Koreans follow the twelve-animal zodiac, tells the story of Buddha inviting animals and naming the years in the order they arrived, and says "Koreans believe that specific zodiac animals bring specific resources and qualities". It gives the example that 2014, the year of the horse, "was considered a good year in the money and career aspect of life". These are beliefs reported, and I make no claim that they are true or widespread.
- The "moon house". The article describes burning a house of firewood and branches "symbolizes the warding off of bad/evil spirits for the new year", and adding wishes to it. It places this within Seollal. I could not confirm which day it belongs to, and Chapter 5 checks the first full moon festival, so I flag it for that chapter.
Cost and Change
The article says that preparing for the holiday "is very costly": gifts, new clothes, food for visiting relatives, and travel. Because of demand, "food prices are inflated during the month of Seollal", and as a result "some people have chosen to forgo some traditions" and perform "a modest ancestral rite only with necessary foods". It says the government has taken measures such as increasing the supply of agricultural, fishery and livestock products, using rice reserves and pork imports, and supporting small and medium-sized companies' cash flow. These are claims in the article, with no figures or dates given beyond the 2016 travel number.
Reading Claims About Seollal
- "Earliest record" is not "origin". Ask what the source actually shows.
- Read the verbs. "Reportedly", "likely", "thought to" and "believed" mark claims.
- Check which new year. Seollal, Gujeong and Sinjeong are different names with different histories.
- Separate custom from cost. A tradition that is expensive to keep can be kept in a smaller form.
Exercises
Explain what seol means and how it relates to age, and distinguish Gujeong from Sinjeong. Then give two early records of Seollal from the table and explain why "earliest attestation" is not the same as "earliest custom".
Describe the ban and restoration of Seollal in five dated steps, from 1907 to 1989. Then explain how this fills the gap in Chapter 2, and why the dates should be checked against a legal source.
Describe the sebae bow, the three foods in the table, and two traditional games. Then explain how the Seollal and Tteokguk articles differ on the origin of tteokguk, and which wording is the more careful.
Quick Reference
- Name: seol = "year of age"; Gujeong (old new year, lunar) and Sinjeong (new new year, 1 January)
- Early records: Book of Wei (Buyeo); Book of Sui / Old Book of Tang (Silla); Samguk Yusa; Goryeosa (one of nine major Goryeo festivals)
- Ban and return: banned 1907; colonial-era Gregorian new year; 1 to 3 January holiday 1945 to 1950; "folk day" 1985 to 1988; national holiday 1989
- Rite and bow: charye with deep bows; sebae to elders, with sebaetdon
- Food: tteokguk, jeon, japchae
- Games: yutnori, kites, jegichagi, neolttwigi, gongginori, tops
- Reported: 36 million travellers in 2016; rising prices; government supply measures
- Check: the legal dates, the 2023 age change, the "moon house" day, and the japchae and yutnori origin stories
Next chapter: Chuseok, the autumn harvest holiday: the rites, songpyeon and other foods, the travel rush, and what the sources say about its origins.